Tennis player whose blown-out knee left her crumpled and screaming on Wimbledon court reveals how bad her injury really is

Bethanie Mattek-Sands collapsed Thursday after dislocating her patella and rupturing her patella tendon during a Wimbledon match.

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ESPN/Wimbledon

American tennis player Bethanie Mattek-Sands posted a video Saturday discussing the aftermath of the scary knee injury she suffered during a second-round Wimbledon match on Thursday.

Mattek-Sands said she dislocated her patella and ruptured her patella tendon, calling the injury “one of the most painful” she’s ever had.

“I was in the middle of the match and playing that last point, I was coming to the net and all I remember is hearing this pop in my leg. Everything was kind of slow after that,” she said. “Someone told me afterwards that I actually got hit by the ball, and I don’t even remember it. I just remember trying to take a step and my leg not being able to hold me and I just went down.”

Mattek-Sands crumpled to the ground and immediately screamed for help. Her opponent, Sorana Cirstea, walked over the net and, once she caught a glimpse of Mattek-Sands’ knee, quickly began to look for help herself.

“I remember Justin [Sands, her husband] on the court afterwards, just holding my face and just telling me not to look at my leg,” Mattek-Sands said in the video, choking up. “And I said, eff you, I already did. It’s too late.”